Test Bank for The Enjoyment of Music,

13th Edition, Andrew Dell’Antonio,

Kristine Forney,
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 CHAPTER 2Rhythm and Meter: Musical Time
MULTIPLE CHOICE

1. Music is propelled forward in time by

a. harmony. c. texture.
b. rhythm. d. timbre.

ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

2. What is the element of music that organizes movement in time?

a. rhythm c. harmony
b. melody d. form

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

3. The basic unit of rhythm that divides time into equal segments is called the
a. meter. c. beat.
b. syncopation. d. accent.

ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

4. Beats that are more strongly emphasized than others are said to be
a. minor. c. accented.
b. major. d. metrical.

ANS: C DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

5. Organizing patterns of rhythmic pulses are called

a. offbeats. c. syncopations.
b. meters. d. polyrhythms.

ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering
 6. Meter is marked off in groupings known as
a. phrases. c. cadences.
b. measures. d. chords.

ANS: B DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

7. The first accented beat of a measure is called a(n)

a. syncopated beat. c. upbeat.
b. simple beat. d. downbeat.

ANS: D DIF: Easy REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

8. The metric pattern in which a strong beat alternates with a weak one is called ________ meter.
a. triple c. quadruple
b. duple d. compound

ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

9. Which meter would MOST likely be associated with a march?

a. duple c. quadruple
b. triple d. compound

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

10. In triple meter, the strongest pulse occurs on

a. the first beat. c. the third beat.
b. the second beat. d. all beats equally.

ANS: A DIF: Easy REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

11. The repeated rhythmic pattern in which an accented beat is followed by two unaccented beats is called ________
meter.
a. duple c. quadruple
b. triple d. compound
 ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm
MSC: Remembering

12. Meters in which each beat is subdivided into three rather than two are known as ________ meters.
a. simple c. compound
b. complex d. unequal

ANS: C DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

13. In sextuple meter, the principal accents usually fall on

a. beats 1 and 3. c. beats 2 and 4.
b. beats 1 and 4. d. beats 3 and 6.

ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

14. The patriotic song America (“My country, ’tis of thee”) is an example of ________ meter.
a. duple c. quadruple
b. triple d. compound

ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

15. Which of the following songs is in sextuple meter?

a. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star c. America, the Beautiful
b. Greensleeves d. America (“My country, ’tis of thee”)

ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

16. A weak beat in a measure is called a(n)

a. offbeat. c. accent.
b. syncopation. d. upbeat.

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering
17. When a song begins on the last beat of a measure, it is said to begin with a(n)
a. offbeat. c. polyrhythm.
b. syncopation. d. upbeat.

ANS: D DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

18. The deliberate shifting of the accent to a weak beat or an offbeat is called
a. rhythm. c. syncopation.
b. meter. d. compound meter.

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

19. The simultaneous use of two or more rhythmic patterns is called

a. polyrhythm. c. additive meter.
b. syncopation. d. compound meter.

ANS: A DIF: Moderate REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

20. Music that moves without a strong sense of beat or meter is called
a. compound. c. nonmetric.
b. additive. d. irregular.

ANS: C DIF: Moderate REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

21. Which meter is traditionally associated with dances such as the waltz and the minuet?
a. duple c. quadruple
b. triple d. compound

ANS: B DIF: Moderate REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

22. Which meter has a primary accent on the first beat and a secondary accent on the third beat?
a. triple c. compound
b. quadruple d. sextuple
 ANS: B DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm
MSC: Applying

23. How is the beat divided in simple meter?

a. two c. four
b. three d. six

ANS: A DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

TRUE/FALSE

1. The element that organizes movement in time is called harmony.

ANS: F DIF: Easy REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

2. Measures mark off groupings of beats, each with a fixed number that coincides with the meter.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

3. Meter is the measurement of musical time.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

4. Meter is an organizing principle shared by music and poetry.

ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: 10 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

5. Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star is an example of triple meter.

ANS: F DIF: Difficult REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying
 6. Syncopation is a rhythmic characteristic of American jazz.

ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

7. Syncopation is typical of African American dance music and spirituals.

ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

8. Polyrhythms are characteristic of music of many African cultures.

ANS: T DIF: Moderate REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

9. All world music features a strong regular pulse or beat.

ANS: F DIF: Difficult REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

10. Music that moves without a strong sense of beat or meter is referred to as nonmetric.

ANS: T DIF: Easy REF: 12 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Remembering

11. Sextuple meter is an example of a compound duple meter.

ANS: T DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

12. The beat is divided into three for simple meter.

ANS: F DIF: Difficult REF: 11 TOP: Rhythm

MSC: Applying

13. The first accented beat of each metrical pattern is called the upbeat.
Another random document with
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approach as the royal party turns the angle opposite Oldtown. The
king is always seated in a six-oared gig belonging to the ship to
which he is proceeding, whilst the canoes contain his eldest son,
young Eyo, and his three brothers, with an innumerable host of slave
attendants. He has a gigantic parti-coloured parasol held over his
head on these occasions, as he has whenever walking about his
town, or seated in one of his court-yards, overlooking his trade
books. The musical band accompanying the king consists of an
Egbo drum, placed transversely in the canoe, which is not beaten on
the ends as our drums are, but on the top of its longitudinal surface
with a pair of sticks; an instrument formed of iron, as of the saucers
of two shovels welded face to face, and struck with a piece of the
same metal; a cow’s-horn, blown rather discordantly; and clattering-
boxes made of bamboo matting, with a string to them held in the
hands like Spanish castanets, and shaken vigorously to produce a
noise by the agitation of the pebbles or pieces of broken crockery-
ware they contain. Yet, with this primitive attempt at music, the
banners flying from the canoes, the simultaneous hoisting of flags on
all the ships in the river, and the return of a salute from the vessel to
which he is proceeding, when the king’s party becomes visible, gives
the whole scene a very animated appearance.”
By-the-by, mention has several times been made of the curious
institution existing in this part of the world known as the order of
“Egbo.” It is a sort of negro brotherhood of kings, chiefs, and free
men, and the title is derived from “Ekpe,” the Efik name for tiger.
There are eleven grades, the three superior of which are not
purchaseable by slaves. In former times the Egbo title was confined
entirely to freemen, the second or third generation of a slave born
within the pale of an Egboman’s dwelling being liberated by this fact,
and allowed to purchase it after their parents were dead. It cannot be
compared to any institution familiar to European minds but to that of
Freemasonry. Previous to initiation, the Egbo candidate is obliged to
go through a number of ceremonial observances; as, for instance, on
a “Brass Egbo”—one of the superior grades—applicant’s admission
into that order, his body is daubed over with yellow dye to simulate
brass, and there is a sacrifice of animals on the occasion. The
secrets and meetings of Egbo men are strictly private. If a man,
woman, or child have a complaint of grievance against a master or
neighbour, he or she has only to give notification of it by slapping an
Egbo gentleman on the front of his body, or by going into the market
square and tolling the large Egbo bell. The gentleman apprised by
the first-mentioned form of notice, is bound to have at once an Egbo
meeting to redress the grievance complained of, and if this be found
to be trivial the punishment is inflicted on the complainant. When an
Egbo man wants to make a proclamation relative to a theft
committed, or the recovery of a debt, he sends out into the town
what is supposed to be Idem, or spiritual representation of Egbo, a
man with a black vizard on his black face, and the whole of his body
covered cap-a-pie with a fantastical dress of bamboo matting. This
personage is sometimes preceded by a few drummers, and he
always has a bell fastened to his side, which rings as he goes along.
In his left hand he carries a bunch of green leaves (for he is believed
to have been exorcised from the woods, and of course must keep up
his sylvan character); in his right is an enormous cow-hide whip with
which he flogs every slave, man or woman, whom he meets, as taste
or inclination may suggest. A brutal peculiarity of the Egboship is
this, that the want of a single variety of the title will expose him who
is so unfortunate as to lack it, to the lashings of the Idem of that
particular grade which he has not purchased. If an individual who is
in possession of all the inferior grades, and of three of the superior
ones, happens to be out on the day when the Idem of that particular
Egbo that he was in want of is walking, he is marked out from the
common multitude and treated with extra severity. Should the Idem
not meet any slave in the streets to whip on his rounds, he is at
liberty to go into their houses and whip them to his heart’s content.
The sound of Egbo bells, and the name of Egbo day, are enough to
terrify all the slave population of Duketown, and when they hear it
they hide in every available place. Latterly females have been
permitted to buy Egbo privileges, but are not allowed to be present at
the councils of the Egbo gentlemen, nor to enter at any time within
the wall of the Egbo Palaver-house. When a yellow flag floats from
the king’s house it is understood to be Brass Egbo day, and none but
a few of the privileged are allowed to walk abroad. A strip of cloth of
the same colour nailed to any man’s door implies that his house is
under the powerful protection of Brass Egbo, the indication being
significant of the master’s absence from home. If an Idem meets a
European in his progress, where there are two roads or pathways
available, the Idem walks off on the one different from that which the
white man is approaching; if there be but one road, the latter is
expected to turn his back and let the supposed spirit pass unnoticed
and undisturbed. “Aqua Osong,” the last day of the Kalabar week, is
grand Egbo day, on which there is a carnival and Egbo procession,
with the usual amount of brutality. All legal and judicial proceedings
in the country are ushered in and carried out under Egbo
demonstrations, for the purpose evidently of keeping the law in
terrorem over the slave population. And no stronger evidence of this
can be adduced than that a man tried and condemned by Egbo law
has to forfeit all his slaves and other property in his possession, no
matter to whom this latter may belong. These are all divided as prey
amongst the highest Egbo authorities. Persons sentenced to death
by Egbo trial are allowed what is considered a privilege of leaving
this world in a state of intoxication. There is a class of people called
Bloodmen, who live in the interior at the plantations, and whose
presence in Duketown does not give much comfort to the Egbo
authorities. Sometime after the death of King Eyamba in 1846, a
number of slaves belonging to the duke’s family ran away from their
owners, and entered into a blood covenant for mutual protection. In a
short time others joined them, and they now amount to several
thousands. The present King of Duketown, Duke Ephraim, is the
lineal descendant of the master of the original refugees, and
consequently has considerable influence over them. Some time back
they tried to be allowed the establishment of a separate Egboship for
themselves, but were refused. They come into town whenever any
ceremonial is to be performed having reference to a deed of blood;
but what their relation is to the Egbo order still remains a profound
secret. The gentlemen at Old Kalabar have all private fetishes at
their houses—the skulls of human beings, the bones of leopards,
hippopotami, crocodiles, and manattis, arranged according to the
owner’s taste and fancy. Peculiar species of food are not eaten by
many families, from the fact that some members of them die after
eating of such condiments, and their ju-ju consequently places an
interdict on their use.
At Lunda, another settlement in Western Africa, the individual at
the head of the State is called the “Mambo.” This gorgeous
personage, together with his chief ministers, is thus described by the
traveller Valdez, to whom audience was given:
“The Mambo sat on a number of tiger-skins, so arranged that all
the tails radiated, thus forming the figure of a large star, and in the
centre was spread an enormous lion-skin, which covered a portion of
all the others. A stool, covered with green cloth and placed on the
lion-skin, formed the throne of the Mambo. This dignitary was
dressed in a most magnificent style, far surpassing in grandeur of
display all the other potentates of the interior of Africa. His head was
adorned with a mitre, about two spans high, in shape resembling a
pyramid, and formed of feathers of a bright scarlet colour. His
forehead was encircled by a diadem ornamented with a great variety
of valuable jewels of great brilliancy; a sort of frill or fan of green
cloth, supported by two small ivory arrows, was standing up from the
back of his head; the neck and shoulders being covered with a kind
of spencer or capuchin without sleeves. The upper part of this cape
was ornamented with the bottom of cowrie shells, under which was a
row of imitation jewels. The lower part had a most brilliant and
dazzling effect, in consequence of a great number of small mirrors,
or square and round pieces of looking-glass, being tastefully
arranged alternately with the precious stones all round it. His
shoulders, breast, and back, were thus covered with a garment at
which no one in that resplendent sunshine could for one moment
look fixedly.
“The arms above the elbows were ornamented with a band of
cloth of about four inches broad, the borders and edges of which had
attached to them strips of skin, with hair of about four or five inches
long hanging down like a fringe. None but the Muata Cazembe, or
prime minister, and his nearest relatives are allowed to wear this
badge of royalty. From his elbows to the wrist the arms were
ornamented with sky-blue stones, while the yellow cloth, something
similar to the Highlandman’s kilt, extended from the waist to the
knees. This garment had two borders of about four inches wide, the
upper one blue, and the lower red.
“He also had a kind of girdle or swathe of several yards long,
which was worn in a rather peculiar manner; one end of it being
fastened to the other cloth by a small ivory arrow a little below the
waist, and the whole then wound round the body in small regular
folds. A leather belt which is girt round the body preserves this
garment in its place. Both are considered as the insignia of imperial
authority.
“The insipo or girdle of hide is cut from the entire length of an ox’s
skin, and is about five or six inches in breadth. When the insipo is
girded on, the tassel of the tail is left trailing under a sort of fan,
formed by the folds or plaits as before mentioned. The Muata
Cazembe had hung from his insipo under his right hand a string of
pearls, to the end of which a small bell was attached, which,
knocking against his legs as he moved, rang at intervals. He had
also pearls strung round his legs from his knees downwards, similar
to those he wore on his arms. While the whole of his body was thus
richly ornamented, his face, hands, and feet were left entirely
uncovered.
“The Muata Cazembe had seven umbrellas, forming a canopy to
shelter him from the sun. These varied in colour, and were fastened
to the ground with long bamboos, covered with stuff of different hues
manufactured by the natives. Twelve negroes simply clad, and each
of them holding in his hand a nhumbo’s tail, were stationed round the
umbrellas.
“The nhumbo is an antelope about the size of a three-year old ox,
and of a chestnut colour, having a black cross along the back, and a
great deal of hair about the shoulder-blades—about the same
quantity as a horse has upon his mane and tail. It has cloven feet,
head and horns like a buffalo, and the flesh is excellent food. The
nhumbo tails held by the negroes were in the form of a broom, and
the part which served as a handle was adorned with beads of
various colours. All the tails were put in motion at the same time
whenever the Muata Cazembe thought proper to make a sign with a
small one of the same kind, which he used himself.
“At a short distance from him were negroes gravely employed in
looking for and sweeping away whatever was unpleasant or
offensive to the sight. After them came two other negroes, with
baskets on their shoulders, to pick up anything which might be
overlooked; but the place was so clear that not one of them could
find anything to do, although, according to custom, the appearance
of being busy was kept up. Two curved lines issued from the
extremities of the Muata’s chair, and met at the distance of twenty
paces in front, opposite the Mambo. The line on the left was marked
by the point of a stick which was trailed along the ground; that on his
right by chalk. In front of these curved lines, forming an avenue of
about three spans in width, were two files of figures resembling idols,
beginning from the sides of the curved lines. The size of these
figures, which were only half-lengths, was about twenty inches; they
were nailed to sticks thrust in the ground, were very rudely made,
had Kaffir features, and were ornamented with the horns of beasts.
In the centre of the avenue was a cage in the form of a barrel,
containing another smaller figure.
“Two negroes sat on the ground near the two outermost figures
fronting the king, each having an earthen vessel full of live ashes
before him, and were employed in throwing on the fire a quantity of
leaves, which produced a dense aromatic smoke. The backs of the
images being placed towards the Muata Cazembe, from under the
last—the one nearest the earthen vessels—a rope was extended to
the Mambo’s feet; for what purpose I could not by any means
ascertain.
“The two wives of the Mambo were the only ones present in the
Chipango, the gate of which was open. One of these ladies was
sitting on a stool, covered with a green cloth; her arms, neck, and
bosom ornamented with stones of different colours, and her head
adorned with scarlet feathers, like the head-dress of the Mambo, but
shorter and smaller.
 “The second wife sat on a lion’s skin at the left-hand side of the
gate, with no other dress than a cloth, which was entirely without
ornaments. Behind the two wives stood more than four hundred
women of different ages, all dressed in nhandas, a kind of
interwoven cloth made of the bark of trees.”
In another part of this strange country the ruler is known by the
euphonious title of “Jaga;” and whenever a vacancy occurs in the
government by the death of the Jaga, the Tendalla or prime-minister
convokes the heads of the electoral college, which comprises the
Macotas or counsellors, the Cazas or noblemen, and the Catondo or
commander-in-chief, who together with himself (the Tendella),
compose the cabinet council. When this body is assembled they
proceed to investigate the claims of the various individuals
connected with the families who are considered as legitimate
aspirants to the regal dignity.
Having first decided as to the family, their next inquiry has
reference to the individual best qualified to bear the royal dignity; but
it is seldom that matters proceed so far, for it is generally understood
beforehand by the members of the electoral college who is the
legitimate and popular claimant.
These important questions once settled, they next proceed to
build a suitable house for a new Jaga, and to lay out the garden,
etc., and also to erect houses for themselves around it. After these
preliminary proceedings, they next direct their steps to the residence
of the man of their choice, and unceremoniously entering, bring him
out as if he were a malefactor and present him to the multitude, who,
amidst the clang of marimbas and beating of drums, raise a
simultaneous shout on his appearance. He is then conveyed on the
shoulders of his sons, or of the people, to the Quilombo or fortified
residence provided for him, where he remains for several days, none
being allowed to visit him, with the exception of two relations and the
Tendella. At the end of two months he removes to a house
previously prepared on the borders of the River Undua, where he
remains for twenty or thirty days. Here he may be said to form his
new ministry—deposing some officers and appointing others. On this
occasion he also selects his principal wife. When all these
arrangements are finished, the Jaga returns to the locality where he
intends to reside, and fixes the exact spot as follows:—Having
formed his Quilombo, he takes his bow and discharges an arrow,
and wherever it falls there he must erect his permanent residence,
called Semba. Around it are built the houses of his wives, who in
general amount to fifty in number. Next to these are located the
senzales of the Macotas and their wives of the followers of the
former Jaga, and lastly of those who were with the elected Jaga at
the Senzald, where formerly he acted as Maquita.
The last of these ceremonies is that called the Sambamento, after
which the Jaga is considered qualified to exercise all the functions of
his office.
The particular period at which this most cruel and barbarous
custom originated is not known. Some of the Jagas have been
known to dispense with it altogether.
When it is decided to celebrate the Sambamento, some of the
Sovas or Maquitas are dispatched to find the Nicango or victim. The
person selected is uniformly a black, who must have no relationship
or connection with the Jaga or any of the Maquitas or Macotas.
When the Nicango arrives, he is received at the Quilombo and
treated in the same manner as the Jaga; he is provided with
everything he requires, and all his orders are obeyed with the same
promptitude.
The day on which the Sambamento is to be celebrated being
appointed, the Maquitas are informed of the fact, and as large a
number of the people as can be accommodated at the Quilombo
being invited, they all assemble in front of the residence of the Jaga.
The Maquitas and the Macotas form themselves into a circle, the
rest of the people assembling around. The Jaga then takes his seat
in the centre of the circle, on an iron stool, in a circular concave form
with a hole through the centre of the top. The Bansacuco is seated
beside the Jaga, together with all the concubines. The Cassange-
Cagongue then strikes the gong, which is of iron in the form of an
arch, with two small bells attached, and with a bar across it. The
Cassange-Cagongue continues to ring the bells during the
ceremony.
The Nicango is then introduced and placed in front of the Jaga,
but with his back towards him. The Jaga being provided with a
cutlass of a semi-circular form, commences operations by cutting
open the back of the Nicango until he reaches the heart, which he
extracts, and having taken a bit of it he spits it out and gives it to be
burned.
The Macotas in the meantime hold the corpse of the Nicango in
such a manner that the blood from the wound in the back is
discharged against the breast and belly of the Jaga, and falling
through the hole in the iron stool is collected by the Maquitas in their
hands; they then rub their breast and beard with it, at the same time
making a great clamour vociferating “Great is the Jaga and the rites
of the State.”
The corpse of the Nicango is next carried to some distance,
where it is first skinned and then divided into small pieces and
cooked with the flesh of an ox, a dog, a hen, and some other
animals. The meal being prepared it is first served to the Jaga, next
to the Maquitas and Macotas, and then to all the people assembled,
and woe to the unhappy wight who has the temerity to refuse
partaking of the repast from any repugnance to the ingredient, as in
such case the law made and provided is that he and his family forfeit
their liberty and are therefore at once sold into captivity.
Singing and dancing conclude the Sambamento.
 CHAPTER XVIII.

Dr. Livingstone’s reception by Shinte—A South-African Chieftess—

She gives her guests “a bit of her mind”—Breaches of Court
etiquette—Abyssinian cure for melancholy—Mr. Bruce and the
Lady Sittina—Greasing the King of Seenaar—Majesty in
Madagascar—A Malagasey palace—The Feast of the Queen’s
Bath—A Court ball in Madagascar.
urning from Western to Southern Africa, let us see how
royalty comports itself. As in the former case there is a
wide choice of potentates, but we will take but two—
Shinte, King of Makalolo, and Manenko, Chieftess of
Balonda.
“We (Dr. Livingstone and party) were honoured with a grand
reception by Shinte about eleven o’clock. The native Portuguese and
Mambari went fully armed with guns, in order to give Shinte a salute,
their drummer and trumpeter making all the noise their very old
instruments would produce. The kotla, or place of audience, was
about a hundred yards square, and two graceful specimens of a
species of banian stood near the end. Under one of these sat Shinte
on a sort of throne covered with a leopard’s skin. He had on a
checked jacket and a kilt of scarlet baize edged with green; many
strings of large heads hung from his neck, and his limbs were
covered with iron and copper armlets and bracelets; on his head he
wore a helmet made of beads woven neatly together, and crowned
with a great bunch of goose-feathers. Close to him sat three lads
with large sheaves of arrows over their shoulders.
“When we entered the kotla, the whole of Manenko’s party saluted
Shinte by clapping their hands, and Sambanza did obeisance by
rubbing his chest and arms with ashes. One of the trees being
unoccupied I retreated to it for the sake of the shade, and my whole
party did the same. We were now about forty yards from the chief
and could see the whole ceremony. The different sections of the tribe
came forward in the same way that we did, the head man of each
making obeisance with ashes which he carried with him for the
purpose; then came the soldiers, all armed to the teeth, running and
shouting towards us, with their swords drawn and their faces
screwed up so as to appear as savage as possible for the purpose, I
thought, of trying whether they could not make us take to our heels.
As we did not, they turned round towards Shinte and saluted him,
then retired. When all had come and were seated, then began the
curious capering usually seen in pictures. A man starts up, and
imitates the most approved attitudes observed in actual fight, as of
throwing one javelin, receiving another on the shield, springing on
one side to avoid a third, running backwards or forwards, leaping,
etc. This over, Sambanza and the spokesman of Nyamoana stalked
backwards and forwards in front of Shinte, and gave forth in a loud
voice all they had been able to learn either from myself or people of
my past history and connection with the Makololo; the return of the
captives, the wish to open the country to trade, etc. Perhaps he is
fibbing, perhaps not—they rather thought he was; but as the Balonda
had good hearts, and Shinte had never done harm to any one, he
had better receive the white man well and send him on his way.
Sambanza was gaily attired, and, besides a profusion of beads, had
a cloth so long that a boy carried it after him as a train.
“Behind Shinte sat about a hundred women clothed in their best,
which happened to be a profusion of red baize. The chief wife of
Shinte, one of the Matebele or Zulus, sat in front with a curious red
cap on her head. During the intervals between the speeches these
ladies burst forth into a sort of plaintive ditty; but it was impossible for
any of us to catch whether it was in praise of the speaker, of Shinte,
or of themselves. This was the first time I had ever seen females
present in a public assembly. Generally the women are not permitted
to enter the kotla, and even when invited to come to a religious
service they would not enter until ordered to do so by the chief; but
here they expressed approbation by clapping their hands and
laughing to different speakers, and Shinte frequently turned round
and spoke to them.
“A party of musicians, consisting of three drummers and four
performers on the piano, went round the kotla several times, regaling
us with their music. The drums are neatly carved from the trunk of a
tree, and have a small hole in the side covered with a bit of spider’s
web; the ends are covered with the skin of an antelope pegged on,
and when they wish to tighten it they hold it to the fire to make it
contract—the instruments are beaten with the hands.
“The piano, named marimba, consists of two bars of wood placed
side by side here quite straight, but farther north bent round so as to
resemble half the tire of a carriage wheel; across these are placed
about fifteen wooden keys, each of which is two or three inches
broad, and fifteen or eighteen inches long—their thickness is
regulated according to the deepness of the note required; each of
the keys has a calabash beneath it from the upper part of each a
portion is cut off to enable them to embrace the bars, and form
hollow sounding-boards to the keys, which also are of different sizes
according to the note required, and little drumsticks elicit the music.
Rapidity of execution seems much admired among them, and the
music is pleasant to the ear.
“When nine speakers had concluded their orations Shinte stood
up, and so did all the people. He had maintained true African dignity
of manner all the while; but my people remarked that he scarcely
took his eyes off me for a moment. About a thousand people were
present according to my calculation, and three hundred soldiers. The
sun had now become hot, and the scene ended by the Mambari
discharging their guns.
“As the river seemed to come from the direction in which we
wished to go, I was desirous of proceeding farther up with the
canoes, but Nyamoana interposed numerous objections, and the
arrival of Manenko herself settled the point in the negative. She was
a tall strapping woman, about twenty years of age, and distinguished
by a profusion of ornaments and medicines, which latter are
supposed to act as charms. Her body was smeared all over with a
mixture of fat and red ochre as a protection against the weather, a
necessary precaution, for, like most of the Balonda ladies, she was
in a state of frightful nudity, not so much from want of clothing as
from her peculiar ideas of elegance in dress. When she arrived with
her husband Sambanza, she listened for some time to the
statements I was making to the people of Nyamoana, after which her
husband commenced an oration, during the delivery of which he
picked up a little sand, at intervals of two or three seconds, and
rubbed it on the upper part of his arms and chest. This is a common
mode of salutation in Londa; and when they wish to be excessively
polite they bring a quantity of ashes or pipe-clay in a piece of skin
and rub it on the chest and upper front part of each arm; others drum
their ribs with their elbows, while others touch the ground with one
cheek after the other and clap their hands. When Sambanza had
finished his oration he rose up and showed his ankles ornamented
with a bundle of copper rings. Had they been very heavy they would
have impeded his walk; and some chiefs wore so many as to be
forced to keep one foot apart from the other, the weight being a
serious inconvenience in walking. Gentlemen like Sambanza who
wish to ape their betters adopt their gait, strutting along with only a
few ounces of ornament on their legs just as if they had double the
number of pounds. When I smiled at Sambanza’s walk the people
remarked, ‘That is the way in which they show off high blood in these
parts.’
“When erecting our sheds at the village, Manenko, the chieftess,
fell upon our friends and gave us a specimen of her powers of
scolding. Masiko had once sent to Samoana for a cloth, which is a
common way of keeping up intercourse. After receiving it he returned
it, because it had the appearance of having had witchcraft medicine
on it. This was a grave offence; and Manenko had now a good
excuse for retaliation, as Masiko’s ambassadors had slept in one of
the huts of her village without asking leave. She set upon them
furiously, advancing and receding in true oratorical style, belabouring
her own servants for allowing the offence, and raking up the faults
and failings of the objects of her ire ever since they were born; in
conclusion, expressing her despair of ever seeing them become
better until they were all killed by alligators. Masiko’s people received
this torrent of abuse in silence, and as neither we nor they had
anything to eat, we parted next morning. In reference to the sale of
slaves they promised to explain to Masiko the relationship which
exists between even the most abject of his people and our common
Father, and that no more kidnapping ought to be allowed. We
promised to return through his town when we came back from the
sea-coast.
 “Manenko gave us some manioc roots in the morning, and had
determined to carry our baggage to her uncle Shinte. We had heard
a sample of what she could do with her tongue, and as neither my
men nor myself had much inclination to encounter this black virago
we proceeded to make ready the packages; but she said the men
whom she had ordered for the service would not arrive until to-
morrow. I felt annoyed at this further delay and ordered the packages
to be put into the canoes at once: but Manenko was not to be
circumvented in this way; she came forward with her people, seized
the baggage, and declared that she would carry it in spite of me. My
men succumbed and left me powerless. I was moving off in high
dudgeon to the canoes when she kindly placed her hand on my
shoulder and, with a motherly look, said, “Now, my little man, just do
as the rest have done.” My feeling of annoyance of course vanished,
and I went out to try for some meat.
Ignorance of court etiquette in savage no less than in civilized
countries is a fruitful source of danger, or at least unpleasantness, to
the traveller ambitious to move in what the newspapers vaguely
describe as “select circles.” Mr. Stern, in his recent travels among
the Falashas of Abyssinia, was on one occasion advised of this fact
in a rather astonishing manner. Breakfast was served in the royal
tent, and it was during the progress of the meal that our traveller
nearly lost the esteem and regard he had hitherto enjoyed.
“According to the Abyssinian notion every man who claims to be of
patrician descent, should emulate the noises made by a certain
unclean animal whilst eating his meals. My ignorance of this elegant
acquirement (for I had unfortunately not yet attained it) drew upon
me the frowns as well as the whispered censures of the guests.
Unconscious of the cause of this unexpected notoriety, I asked
whether there was anything peculiar in my appearance or
deportment that provoked criticism. ‘Certainly,’ was the rejoinder,
‘your conduct is so ungentlemanly that all the guests think you must
be a very low fellow and quite unaccustomed to move in genteel
society.’ ‘And to what am I indebted for this good opinion?’ returned
I. ‘To the mode in which you eat; for if you were a gentleman you
would show by the smacking of your lips the exalted station to which
you belong; but since you masticate your food in this inaudible
manner every one believes that you are a beggar and accustomed to
eat in that unostentatious manner which pretended poverty prompts
individuals to adopt.’ I assured them that any breach of etiquette
must be attributed to the difference of the customs in my own
country and not to the low motive they assigned, an apology which
amply satisfied the most accomplished courtier in the royal tent.”
It is the constant practice in Abyssinia to beset the king’s doors
and windows within his hearing, and there, from early morning to
night, to cry for justice as loud as possible in a distressed and
complaining tone, and in all the different languages they are master
of, in order to their being admitted to have their supposed grievances
heard. In a country so ill governed as Abyssinia is, and so
perpetually involved in war, it may be easily supposed there is no
want of people who have real injuries and violence to complain of:
but if it were not so, this is so much the constant usage, that when it
happens (as in the midst of the rainy season) that few people can
approach the capital or stand without in such bad weather, a set of
vagrants are provided, maintained, and paid, whose sole business it
is to cry and lament, as if they had been really very much injured and
oppressed; and this, they tell you, is for the king’s honour, that he
may not be lonely, by the palace being too quiet. This, of all their
absurd customs, was the most grievous and troublesome to Mr.
Bruce. Sometimes, while Mr. Bruce was busy in his room in the rainy
season, there would be four or five hundred people, who all at once
would begin, some roaring and crying, as if they were in pain, others
demanding justice, as if they were that moment suffering, or if in the
instant to be put to death; and some groaning and sobbing as if just
expiring; and this horrid symphony was so artfully performed, that no
ear could distinguish but that it proceeded from real distress. Mr.
Bruce was often so surprised as to send the soldiers at the door to
bring in one of them, thinking him come from the country, to examine
who had injured him: many a time he was a servant of his own, or
some other equally known; or, if he was a stranger, upon asking him
what misfortune had befallen him he would answer very composedly,
nothing was the matter with him; that he had been sleeping all day
with the horses; that hearing from the soldiers at the door that Mr.
Bruce was retired to his apartment he and his companions had come
to cry and make a noise under his window, to do him honour before
the people, for fear he should be melancholy by being too quiet
when alone, and therefore hoped that he would order them drink that
they might continue with a little more spirit.
In the course of his Abyssinian journeyings, the traveller just
mentioned had occasion to pass through a place called Arendi,
which was governed by a female named Sittina, or the Lady. Our
traveller waited on this high and mighty personage. Upon entering
the house, a black slave laid hold of him by the hand, and placed
him in a passage, at the end of which were two opposite doors. Mr.
Bruce did not well know the reason of this; but staid only a few
minutes, when he heard one of the doors at the end of the passage
open, and Sittina appeared magnificently dressed, with a kind of
round cap of solid gold upon the crown of her head, all beaten very
thin, and hung round with sequins; with a variety of gold chains,
solitaires, and necklaces of the same metal, about her neck. Her hair
was plaited in ten or twelve small divisions like tails, which hung
down below her waist; and over her was thrown a common cotton
white garment. She had a purple silk stole, or scarf, hung very
gracefully upon her back, brought again round her waist, without
covering her shoulders or arms. Upon her wrists she had two
bracelets like handcuffs, about half an inch thick, and two gold
manacles of the same at her feet, full an inch in diameter, the most
disagreeable and awkward part of her dress. Mr. Bruce expected she
would have hurried through with some affectation of surprise. On the
contrary, she stopped in the middle of the passage, saying, in a very
grave manner, “Kifhalec,—how are you?” Mr. Bruce thought this was
an opportunity of kissing her hand, which he did, without her shewing
any sort of reluctance. “Allow me as a physician, Madam,” said Mr.
Bruce, “to say one word.” She bowed with her head, and said, “Go in
at that door, and I will hear you.” The slave appeared, and carried
him through a door at the bottom of a passage into a room, while her
mistress vanished in at another door at the top, and there was the
screen he had seen the day before, and the lady behind it. She was
a woman scarcely forty, taller than the middle size, had a very round
plump face, her mouth rather large, very red lips, the finest teeth and
eyes he had seen; but at the top of her nose, and between her
eyebrows, she had a small speck made of antimony, four-cornered,
and of the size of the smallest patches formerly worn by ladies of
fashion; another rather longer upon the top of her nose, and one in
the middle of her chin.
“Tell me what you would say to me as a physician.” “It was,
madam, but in consequence of your discourse yesterday. That heavy
gold cap with which you press your hair will certainly be the cause of
a great part of it falling off.” “I believe so; but I should catch cold, I
am so accustomed to it, if I was to leave it off. Are you a man of
name and family in your own country?” “Of both, madam.” “Are the
women handsome there?” “The handsomest in the world, madam;
but they are so good, and so excellent in all other respects, that
nobody thinks at all of their beauty, nor do they value themselves
upon it.” “And do they allow you to kiss their hands?” “I understand
you, madam, though you have mistaken me. There is no familiarity in
kissing hands; it is a mark of homage and distant respect paid in my
country to our sovereigns, and to none earthly besides.” “O yes! but
the kings.” “Yes, and the queens too, always on the knee, madam.
On her part, it is a mark of gracious condescension, in favour of
rank, merit, and honourable behaviour; it is a reward for dangerous
and difficult services, above all other compensation.” “But do you
know that no man ever kissed my hand but you?” “It is impossible I
should know that, nor is it material. Of this I am confident, it was
meant respectfully, cannot hurt you, and should not offend you.” “It
certainly has done neither,” replied Her Majesty—and so ended her
first lesson on the etiquette of civilized life.
On another occasion, while in the neighbourhood of Seenaar, our
traveller waited on the king; and about eight o’clock came a servant
from the palace, telling Mr. Bruce that then was the time to “bring his
present.” He sorted the separate articles with all the speed he could,
and went directly to the palace. The king was sitting in a large
apartment, as far as he could guess, at some distance from the
former. He was naked, but had several clothes lying upon his knee,
and about him, and a servant was rubbing him over with very
stinking butter or grease, with which his hair was dropping as if wet
with water. Large as the room was, it could be smelled through the
whole of it. The king asked Mr. Bruce if he ever greased himself as
he did? Mr. Bruce said, very seldom, but fancied it would be very
expensive. He then told him that it was elephant’s grease, which
made people strong, and preserved the skin very smooth. Our
traveller said he thought it very proper, but could not bear the smell
of it, though his skin should turn as rough as an elephant’s for the
want of it. The king replied, that if Mr. Bruce had used it, his hair
would not have turned so red as it was, and that it would all become
white presently, when that redness came off. “You may see,”
continued he, “the Arabs driven in here by the Daveina, and all their
cattle taken from them, because they have no longer any grease for
their hair. The sun first turns it red, and then perfectly white; and you
will know them in the street by their hair being the colour of yours. As
for the smell, you will see that cured presently.”
After having rubbed him abundantly with grease, the servants
brought him a pretty large horn, and in it something scented, about
the consistence of honey. It was plain that civet was a great part of
the composition. The king went out at the door, Mr. Bruce supposes
into another room, and there two men deluged him with pitchers of
cold water. He then returned, and a slave anointed him with this
sweet ointment; after which he sat down as completely dressed,
being just going to his woman’s apartment where he was to sup. Mr.
Bruce told him, he wondered why he did not use rose-water as in
Abyssinia, Arabia, and Cairo. He said he had it often from Cairo,
when the merchants arrived; but as it was now long since they came,
his people could not make more, for the rose would not grow in his
country, though the women made something like it of lemon-flower.
Making a skip from Abyssinia to Madagascar we there find the
“Royal state” a ludicrous blending of gingerbread splendour and
magnificent muddle. By-the-by, things may have reformed here by
this time, as the queen of whom this description treats is lately dead:
let us hope that this is the case. Our business, however, is to recite
the evidence of our witnesses—the witness in this case being the
courageous and truthful Ida Pfieffer.
“Towards four o’clock our bearers carried us to the palace. Over
the door is fixed a great gilt eagle with extended wings. According to
the rule here laid down by etiquette we stepped over the threshold
first with the right foot, and observed the same ceremony on coming
to a second gate leading to a great court-yard in front of the palace.
Here we saw the queen sitting on a balcony on the first storey, and
were directed to stand in a row in the court-yard opposite to her.
Under the balcony stood some soldiers, who went through sundry
evolutions, concluding with a very comic point of drill which consisted
in suddenly poking up the right foot as though suddenly stung by a
tarantula.
“The queen was wrapped, according to the custom of the country,
in a wide silk simbu and wore on her head a big golden crown.
Though she sat in the shade a very large crimson umbrella was held
up over head; this being, it appears, a point of regal state.
“The queen is of rather dark complexion, and sturdily built, and
although already seventy-five years of age she is, to the misfortune
of her poor country, still hale and of active mind. At one time she is
said to have been a great drunkard, but she has given up that fatal
propensity some years ago.
“To the right of the queen stood her son Prince Rakoto, and on the
left her adopted son Prince Ramboasalama; behind her sat and
stood sundry nephews and nieces and other relatives, male and
female, and several grandees of the empire.
“The minister who had conducted us to the palace made a short
speech to the queen; after which we had to bow three times and to
repeat the words ‘Esaratsara tombokoe,’ equivalent to ‘We salute
you cordially,’ to which she replied ‘Esaratsara,’ which means ‘well-
good.’ Then we turned to the left to salute the tomb of Prince
Radama lying a few paces on one side, with three similar bows;
whereupon we returned to our former place in front of the balcony
and made three more. Mr. Lambert (who accompanied Madam
Pfieffer) on this occasion, held up a gold piece of fifty franks value
and put it in the hands of the minister who accompanied us. This gift,
which every stranger has to offer the first time he is presented at
court, is called ‘Monosina.’ It is not customary that it should consist
of a fifty-franc piece; the queen contents herself with a Spanish
dollar, or a five-frank piece. After the delivery of the gold piece, the
queen asked Mr. Lambert if he wished to put any question to her, or
if he stood in need of anything; to which he answered, ‘No.’ She also
was condescending enough to turn to me and ask if I was well and if
I had escaped the fever. After I had answered this question, we
stayed a few minutes longer looking at each other, and then the
bowings and greetings began anew. We had to take leave of
Radama’s monument, and on returning were reminded not on any
account to put the left foot first over the threshold.”
The royal palace of Madagascar is described by Mrs. Pfieffer as a
very large wooden building, consisting of a ground floor and two
storeys surmounted by a peculiarly high roof. The storeys are
surrounded by broad galleries. Around the building are pillars, also of
wood, eighty feet high, supporting the roof which rises to a height of
forty feet above them, resting in the centre on a pillar no less than a
hundred and twenty feet high. All these columns, the one in the
centre not excepted, consist of a single trunk; and when it is
considered that the woods which contain trees of sufficient size to
furnish these columns are fifty or sixty English miles from the capital,
that the roads are nowhere paved and in some places are quite
impassable, and that all the pillars are dragged hither without the
help of a single beast of burden or any kind of machine, and are
afterwards prepared and set up by means of the simplest tools, the
building of this place may with truth be called a gigantic undertaking,
and the place itself be ranked among the wonders of the world. In
bringing home the chief pillar alone five thousand persons were
employed and twelve days were occupied in its erection.
“All these labours were performed by the people as compulsory
service for which they received neither wages nor food. I was told
that during the progress of the work fifteen thousand persons fell
victims to the hard toil and the want of proper nourishment. But the
queen is little disturbed by such a circumstance—half the population
might perish if only her high behests were fulfilled.
“In front of the principal building a handsome and spacious court-
yard has been left. Around this space stands several pretty houses,
all of wood. The chief building is in fact uninhabited and contains
only halls of state and banquetting rooms. On the left the ‘silver
palace’ adjoins the larger one. It takes its name from the fact that all
the vandyked ends with which the roof is decorated are hung with
innumerable little silver bells. Beside the silver palace stands the
monument of King Radama—a tiny wooden house without windows;
to this fact, however, and to the further circumstance of its being built
upon a pedestal, it owes its sole resemblance to a monument.”
The singular custom prevails in Madagascar, that when a king
dies all his treasures in gold and silver ware, and other valuables,
are laid with him in the grave. In case of need, however, the king can
dig up the treasure. “As far as I could ascertain,” says the observant
Ida Pfieffer, “this had been done in several instances.”
The same lady favours us with a description of the chief national
festival among the Malagaseys, the “Feast of the Queen’s Bath.” It
takes place on New Year’s Day.
“On the eve of the feast all the high officers, nobles, and chiefs,
appear at court invited by the queen. They assemble in a great hall;
presently a dish of rice is carried round, each guest taking a pinch in
his fingers and eating it. That is the whole extent of the ceremony on
this first evening.
“Next morning the same company assemble in the same hall. As
soon as they have all met, the queen steps behind a curtain which
hangs in a corner of the room, undresses, and has water thrown
over her. As soon as she has been dressed again she steps forward,
holding in her hand an ox horn, filled with the water which has been
poured over her. Part of this she pours over the assembled
company. Then she betakes herself to a gallery overlooking the
court-yard of the palace and pours the rest over the military
assembled there for parade.
“On this auspicious day nothing is seen throughout the whole
country but feasting, dancing, singing, and rejoicing, which is
continued till late at night. The celebration is kept up for eight days
dating from the day of the bath. It is the custom of the people to kill
as many oxen on that day as they contemplate consuming during the
other seven; whoever possesses any oxen at all kills at least one at
this feast. The poor people get pieces of meat in exchange for rice,
sweet potatoes, tobacco, etc. The meat is still tolerably fresh on the
eighth day. It is cut into long thin strips, which are salted and laid one
on the other. The preliminary celebration of the feast occurs a week
earlier and consists of military processions. The votaries of pleasure
then begin their feast and thus have a fortnight’s jollity—a week
before the feast and a week after.
“The soldiers whom I saw in the procession pleased me well
enough. They went through their manœuvres with tolerable
accuracy, and, contrary to my expectation, I found the music not only
endurable but positively harmonious. It appears that some years ago
the queen sent for an European band-master and a complete set of
instruments; and her worthy subjects were inducted into a
knowledge of music probably by means of a stick. The soldiers were
dressed in a simple, neat, and perfectly uniform manner. They wore
a tight-fitting jerkin reaching to the chest and covering part of their
loins. The chest was bare and covered by the gleaming white belts
supporting the cartridge-box, which had a good effect in contrast to
the black skins of the soldiers. Their heads are uncovered. Their
arms consisted of a musket and the national lance called sagaya.”
According to the same authority, however, satisfactory as is the
appearance of the Malagasey soldier, his lot is a very hard one. He
receives no pay, and even his regimentals must be provided out of
his own scanty means. To meet these expenses he is obliged, if he
is a craftsman, to beg so much leave each day of his superior; or, if
farm work be his avocation, he on certain days of the week
abandons the barrack for the plough. The soldier, however, says
Mrs. Pfieffer, who would obtain enough leave of absence to enable
him to maintain himself in anything like comfort, must propitiate his
captain by giving him part of his earnings. The officers are generally
very little richer than the soldiers. They certainly receive, like the civil
officials, a remuneration for their services from the customs’
revenues; but the pay is so small that they cannot live upon it, and
are compelled to have recourse to other means, not always of the
most honest description. According to the law a very small portion of
the customs’ revenue should come to the common soldier; but so
insignificant is the amount that neither common soldiers nor officers
think it worth while to make any fuss about it.
So it comes about that the unlucky Malagasey soldier who can
find no work, and is too far from his native village to receive
assistance from his friends, is in danger of starvation. His leisure
hours are spent in grubbing about the country in search of herbs and
roots with which, and a little rice, he manages to keep life and soul
together. The rice he throws into a pot filled with water, and after it
has soaked for a time the rice-water serves him for a dinner; in the
evening he banquets on the soddened grain remaining in the pot.
But in war time, as soon as he is on an enemy’s territory, he makes
up for his protracted season of “short commons;” he plunders right
and left and literally lives upon the fat of the land; his long training
has provided him with an excellent appetite; indeed, it is said that
four able-bodied Malagaseys are equal to the task of consuming an
entire ox in the space of four days, and at the termination of the feast
to be so little incommoded as to be able to flee from pursuit with the
nimbleness of deer-hounds.
The Malagasey soldier at war, however, is only to be envied while
his health remains unimpared, and while he is lucky enough to keep
his carcase within a sound skin. His comrades are bound to take
care of him in sickness—but how are they to do this when they
themselves are pinched by poverty and are without even the
common necessaries of life? It frequently happens on a march that
the sick soldier’s companions will endeavour to rid themselves of
him; not by killing him outright, but by the less charitable process of
denying him food to eat or water to quench his thirst, till, preferring
death to further torture, he begs to be laid under a tree and left,
when his tender nurses readily yield to his solicitations, and he is left
to die.
Let us wind up our notice of Royalty and its attributes in
Madagascar by a description of a court ball.
The ball began soon after one o’clock in the day, and was not held
in the apartments of the palace, but in front of the building, in the
great fore-court in which we had been admitted to our audience. As
on that former occasion, the queen sat on the balcony under the
shade of her great parasol, and we were obliged to make the usual
obeisances to her and to the tomb of King Radama. This time,
however, we were not made to stand; comfortable arm-chairs were
assigned to us. Gradually the ball company began to assemble; the
guests comprised nobles of both sexes, officers and their wives, and
the queen’s female singers and dancers. The nobles wore various
costumes, and the officers appeared in European dress: all were
obliged to make numerous obeisances. Those who appeared in
costume had seats like ours given them; the rest squatted about as
they liked, in groups on the ground.
“The queen’s female dancers opened the ball with the dreary
Malagasey dance. These charming creatures were wrapped from top
to toe in white simbus, and wore on their heads artificial, or, I should
say, very inartificial flowers, standing up stiffly like little flagstaffs;
they crowded into a group in such a way that they seemed all tied
together. As often as they staggered past the queen’s balcony or the
monument of King Radama, they repeated their salutes, and likewise
at the end of every separate dance. After the female dancers had
retired, the officers executed a very similar dance, only that they kept
somewhat quicker time, and their gestures were more animated—
that is to say, they lifted their feet rather higher than the performers
of the other sex. Those who had hats and caps, waved them in the
air from time to time, and set up a sharp howling, intended to
represent cries of joy.
“After the officers followed six couples of children in fancy
dresses. The boys wore the old Spanish costume, or were attired as
pages, and looked tolerably well; but the girls were perfect
scarecrows. They wore old-fashioned French costumes—large, stiff
petticoats, with short bodices—and their heads were quite loaded
with ostrich feathers, flowers, and ribbons. After this little monkey
community had performed certain polonaises, schottisches, and
contre-danses, acquitting themselves, contrary to my expectation,
with considerable skill, they bowed low and retired, making way for a
larger company, the males likewise clad in the old Spanish, the
females in the old French garb.
 “All these various costumes are commanded by the queen, who
generally gets her ideas from pictures or engravings that come in her
way. The ladies add to the costume prescribed by royalty whatever
their own taste and invention may suggest, generally showing great
boldness and originality in the combination of colours. I will give my
readers an idea of what these costumes are like, by describing one
of them.
“The dress was of blue satin, with a border of orange colour,
above which ran a broad stripe of bright cherry-coloured satin. The
body, also of satin, with long skirt, shone with a brimstone hue, and a
light sea green silk shawl was draped above it. The head was
covered in such style with stiff, clumsily-made artificial flowers, with
ostrich feathers, silk ribbons, glass beads, and all kinds of millinery,
that the hair was entirely hidden—not that the fair one lost much
thereby, but that I pitied her for the burden she had to carry.
“The costumes of the other ladies showed similar contrasts in
colour, and some of these tasteful dresses had been improved by a
further stroke of ingenuity, being surmounted by high conical hats,
very like those worn by the Tyrolese peasants.
“The company, consisting exclusively of the higher aristocracy,
executed various European dances, and also performed the Sega,
which the Malagaseys assert to be a native dance, though it is really
derived from the Moors. The figures, steps, and music of the Sega
are all so pleasing that, if it were once introduced in Europe, it could
not fail to become universally fashionable.
 Malagasey Ball.
“This beautiful dance was far from concluding the ball. After a
short pause, during which no refreshments were offered, the élite of
the company, consisting of six couples, stepped into the court-yard.
The gentlemen were Prince Rakoto, the two Labordes, father and
son, two ministers, and a general—all the ladies were princesses or
countesses. The gentlemen were dressed in old Spanish costume,
except Prince Rakoto, who wore a fancy dress so tastefully chosen,
that he might have appeared with distinction in any European Court
ball. He wore trousers of dark blue cloth, with a stripe down the side,
a kind of loose jerkin of maroon-coloured velvet, ornamented with
gold stripes and the most delicate embroidery, and a velvet cap of
the same colour, with two ostrich feathers, fastened by a gold
brooch. The whole dress fitted so well, and the embroidery was so
good, that I thought Mr. Lambert must have taken the prince’s
measure with him to Paris, and that the clothes had been made
there; but this was not the case. Everything, with the exception of the
material, had been prepared at Tananariva—a proof that, if the
people of Madagascar are deficient in invention, they are
exceedingly clever in imitating models set before them.
“This group of dancers appeared with much more effect than their
predecessors, for all the ladies and gentlemen were much more
tastefully attired than the rest of the company. They only performed
European dances.
“The whole of these festivities, which had occupied three hours,
had not put the queen to the slightest expense. The court-yard was
the dancing floor, the sun provided illumination, and every guest was
at liberty to take what refreshment he chose—when he got home.
Happy queen! How sincerely many of our ball-givers must envy her!”
 Borneo.

CHAPTER XIX.
Installation of a Dayak Rajah—A visit to the Grungs—A Dayak dance
—Captain Hall’s visit to Corea—The chief on board the “Lyra”—
Entertained at one’s own expense—The chief loses his temper—
The marriage of King Finow’s daughter—The marriage
ceremonies—Mummying a king—King John’s skull—The
Bushman’s mourning.
n Borneo we find the ruling power to be a Sultan, assisted in
his rule by “Rajahs” and “Pangerans” and “Bandars,” and
many others whose titles are equally unintelligible to us.
Each of these minor rulers, however, appears to rule
absolutely over the people in their immediate care; and
much ceremony is observed at their installation. Sir James Brooke,
himself a rajah, was once present at the election of three of these
petty rulers.
With the Dayaks all council is divided into hot and cold—peace,
friendship, good intentions, are all included under the latter head;
war, etc., are under the former. Hot is represented by red, and cold
by white. So in everything they make this distinction; and as the
public hall is the place for war councils and war trophies, it is hot in
the extreme, and unfit for friendly conference. A shed was therefore
erected close to the Orang Kaya’s house wherein the ceremony was
to take place. “About nine in the evening we repaired to the scene;
loud music, barbarous but not unpleasing, resounded, and we took
our seats on mats in the midst of our Dayak friends. A feast was in
preparation, and each guest (if I may call them such) brought his
share of rice in bamboos and laid it on the general stock. As one
party came up after another, carrying their burning logs, the effect
was very good; and they kept arriving until the place and its vicinity
was literally crammed with human beings. A large antique sīrih-box
was placed in the midst, and I contributed that greatest of luxuries,
tobacco.
“The feast in the meantime was in preparation, some of the
principal people being employed in counting the number who were to
eat and dividing the bamboos into exactly equal portions for each
person. About six inches were allotted to every man, and it took a
very long time to divide it, for they are remarkably particular as to the
proper size and quantity to each share. The bamboos of rice being,
however, at length satisfactorily disposed, the Orang Kaya produced
as his share a large basin full of sauce composed of salt and chilis,
and a small stock of sweetmeats, and then the ceremony of his
installation commenced as follows:
“A jacket, a turban, a cloth for the loins, and a kris (all of white),
were presented to the chiefs as a token of sejiek dingin, or cold (i.e.
good). The chief then rose, and taking a white fowl and waving it
over the eatables, repeated nearly the following words [The
commencement, however, is curious enough to dwell upon: the
opening is a sort of invocation beginning with the phrase ‘Samungut
Samungi.’ Samungut is a Malay word, Samungi signifying the same
in Dayak; the exact meaning it is difficult to comprehend, but it is
here understood as some principal spirit or fortune which is in men
and things. Thus the Dayaks in stowing their rice at harvest, do it
with great care from a superstitious feeling that the Samungi of the
padi will escape. They now call this principal to be present—that of
men, of pigs (their favorite animal), of padi, and of fruits. They
particularly named my Samungi, that of my ancestors, of the
Pangeran from Borneo, of the Datus and of their ancestors, and of
the ancestors of their own tribe. They call them—that is, their
Samungi—to be present. They then call upon Jovata to grant their
prayer that the great man from Europe and the Datus might hold the
government for a length of time]:—‘May the government be cold
(good). May there be rice in our houses. May many pigs be killed.
May male children be born to us. May fruit ripen. May we be happy,
and our goods abundant. We declare ourselves to be true to the
great man and the Datus; what they wish we will do, what they
command is our law.’ Having said this and much more the fowl was
taken by a leading Malay who repeated the latter words, whilst
others bound strips of white cloth round the heads of the multitude.
The fowl was then killed, the blood shed in a bamboo, and each man
dipping his finger in the blood touched his forehead and breast in
attestation of his fidelity. The fowl was now carried away to be
cooked, and when brought back placed with the rest of the feast, and
the dancing commenced. The chief coming forward uttered a loud
yell ending in ‘ish,’ which was oftentimes repeated during the dance.
He raised his hand to his forehead and, taking a dish, commenced
dancing to lively music. Three other old chief-men followed his
example, each uttering the yell and making the salute, but without
taking the dish. They danced with arms extended, turning the body
frequently, taking very small steps and little more than lifting their
feet from the ground. Thus they turned backwards and forwards,
passed in and out in the inner rooms, and frequently repeating a yell
and making the salutation to me. The dish in the meantime was
changed from one to the other; there was little variety, no
gesticulation, no violence, and though not deficient in native grace,
yet the movements were by no means interesting. The dance over
the feast commenced, and everything was carried on with great
gravity and propriety. I left them shortly after they begun to eat, and
retired, very fagged, to my bed, or rather my board, for sitting cross-
legged for several hours is surely a great affliction.”
Sir J. Brooke, in company with a modern writer on Bornean
manners and customs—Mr. St. John—on another occasion paid a
ceremonial visit to a chief of the Grungs, and with results that are
worth chronicling.